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• Solid Waste Authority Director's Assault Brings Safety Issues 'To A Head'

• Following Solid Waste Director's Assault, Staff, Residents Tell Commissioners Former Landfill Has Become A 'War Zone'

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A 25-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman have pleaded guilty to assaulting Tedd Ward, director of the Del Norte Solid Waste Management Authority, at the old Crescent City Landfill on Oct. 8.
Wyatt Sparky-Lee Phillips appeared before Del Norte County

Superior Court Judge Darren McElfresh for a sentencing hearing on Monday. But after finding out that the defendant’s attorney was in isolation due to potential COVID-19 exposure and was waiting on test results, McElfresh continued Phillips’ sentencing to next week.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be here,” Phillips told the judge.

Phillips and his co-defendant, Wendy Lannett DeWolf, pleaded guilty last month to robbery and assault with a deadly weapon likely to cause great bodily injury. DeWolf entered a negotiated guilty plea on Nov. 4, according to Del Norte County District Attorney Katherine Micks. Phillips entered his guilty plea on Nov. 10, Micks told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Monday.

On Nov. 30, McElfresh sentenced DeWolf to serve three years in state prison — the maximum sentence allowed under the negotiated plea, Micks said.

Phillips faces a maximum sentence of eight years in prison — three years for causing great bodily injury to Ward and five years for second-degree robbery, Micks told the Outpost.

Ward’s encounter with the defendants at about 6:14 p.m. Oct. 8 along Hight Access Road at the landfill left him with a broken rib, collapsed lung, a cut to his left eyebrow and abrasions on his left arm and inner left leg.

In a report to the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office, Ward said his lips were puffy and bleeding, the left side of his head was swollen and his left front tooth had been chipped. He said doctors at Sutter Coast Hospital performed surgery to vent the air around his lung.

In his victim impact statement to the court on Nov. 30, Ward said he felt DeWolf’s participation in his assault contributed to 10 percent of his physical injuries. Though Phillips was the instigator in the attack, Ward said, DeWolf tried to kick him several times in the groin, leaving a wound and bruise on his inner left thigh.

“She made no effort to stop the attack, coordinated her efforts with his during the attack and struck me herself without encouragement from him,” Ward said.

According to Ward, the assailants appeared to be a couple who were with their young children.

Following Ward’s assault, the DNSWMA agreed to pursue a civil restraining order against Phillips and to take action that includes potential litigation and property acquisition.

Solid Waste Authority staff and residents living in the area described the area around the 167-acre county-owned property at the end of Old Mill Road as a “war zone” rife with illegal bonfires, gunshots, explosions, accumulated trash and other debris.

At the DNSWMA’s next meeting, a proposed trespassing ordinance as well as signage at the landfill will be on the agenda, Ward told the Outpost on Monday.

“We are continuing to make progress on those issues, but some of those issues may be discussed in closed session,” he said.

At its November meeting, the DNSWMA board replaced an internal gate at the landfill and will install two more designed to impede trespassing across the property. According to Ward, teh additional gates will be placed at “choke points,” making access across the landfill property more difficult.

Ward said he has noticed that the gunshots, explosions and the number of vehicles traversing the landfill area in the late hours have decreased significantly since the defendants have been jailed. But, he said, trespassing has been a concern since the landfill closed in 2005.

Plus, he said, none of his staff visit the landfill on their own, which slows down the agency’s effectiveness.

“Everybody’s on salary, so we haven’t seen a direct increase in the overall costs,” Ward told the Outpost. “But the reality is when you have two people out there, you’re spending twice as much or close to twice as much to do the same amount of work. It slows down the overall effectiveness of our agency having to spend more time and effort to go out and do what needs to be done. And it pulls those employees away from their other tasks.”

Since Ward’s assault, the Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office is notified when staff do have to visit the landfill. Sheriff’s deputies will also escort staff to the area to make sure they’re safe.

The Crescent City Landfill opened in the late 1970s and operated until 2005. Its closure was complete in 2006.

The DNSWMA, on behalf of the county, is tasked with managing the property for a minimum of 30 years following its closure. This includes ensuring the landfill’s liner remains intact and its drainage structures are working.

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